Somnus V - Chapter 19

Wind swished through the plains, sending ripples through the waist high grass. Some three hundred or so paces away, an animal that looked remarkably like a brontosaurus was placidly eating vegetation. Kat kept an eye on it. It hadn’t made any threatening moves as Kat and her team had walked past it, but the creature was simply too big for her to ignore.

 Kaleek on the other hand had managed to catch some sort of knee high lizard monster that usually ran around underneath the grass, and he was holding the animal up an arms length away from his body with a giant grin on his face. The reptile thrashed back and forth, hissing angrily, but Kaleek had pinned its arms to its side.

 “Put that down,” Kat scolded, feeling for all the world like she was talking to Michelle and Hans when the two of them would return from some excursion with a chunk of trash in the big wolf’s mouth. “You have no idea where that thing has been.”

 “But I want to keep him,” Kaleek whined. “Plus, I think he likes me.”

 Kat glanced over to see the lizard extending its neck so that it could chomp down on Kaleek’s forearm. The desoph didn’t react, but she saw the faintest of red glows encompassing his arm. In all likelihood, he could barely even feel the tiny dinosaur’s actions.

 “He bit you,” Kat said dryly. “And right now I think he’s trying to eat your arm.”

 “Out of love,” Kaleek replied quickly. “It was a love bite and he is chewing me with tenderness. Bartholomew is a bit feisty, but he means well. Come on, our team needs a mascot anyway.”

 “How in the name of Ludwig von Mises did you come up with Bartholomew as a name?” Kat asked, shaking her head. “Obviously that’s an Earth name, but beyond that, Bartholomew? There are a million and one names that are more, you know, small dinosaur-y”

 “But none of them would fit Bart,” Kaleek responded, the angry lizard squirming helplessly in his arms. “Just look at him. How could you see this little guy and think of anything BUT Bartholomew?”

 Kat looked at the lizard. It had stopped trying to bite Kaleek, evidently realizing that it was useless. Instead, it fixed its forlorn gaze on her.

 “Set it down Kaleek,” Dorrik said, trying to keep a stern tone to his voice despite his fluttering crest. “How would we keep it as a pet anyway? None of us have a taming skill and we’re on our way to the last dungeon on the twelfth floor before we challenge the guardian and ascend.”

 That was true. Since the ambush at Neon Crash, Kat had been spending as much time sleeping as she could manage. The three of them cleared dungeon after dungeon on the twelfth floor, and often they had a bit of extra time left over to hang out with Jaalin and her team. The interactions were a good deal less awkward now than they were during their initial round of meetings, but it was still strange to see Dorrik and her engage in what Kat could only think of as ‘lokkel flirting.”

 One silver lining was how much watching Dorrik and Jaalin engaging made her feel better about the early days of her relationship with Whippoorwill. The two lokkel hadn’t even admitted that they liked each other yet, just compared training routines and feats of prowess while the rest of their teams relaxed in the city together.

 Kaleek grumbled to himself for a second before tossing Bartholomew into the grass. Kat heard the whispers of its movement as it ran away from the three of them as quickly as its small legs could carry it.

 “There,” Kaleek said grumpily before launching into a dramatic monologue. “He’s gone now. Who knows whether or not a predator is going to swoop down and kill him the second he’s out of our sight? His life or death is on your hands now, uncaring taskmaster.”

 “I suspect that I will be able to survive,” Dorrik replied. “Where did you manage to find that demisaur anyway? They shouldn’t really be visible under the grass, and we haven’t stopped any place out in the open for the last three hours.”

 “I could sense him nosing around under the grass,” Kaleek said defensively, “so I lured him in with some jerky. The little fella must have been hungry because he took the bait right away.”

 “Remind me to not let Kaleek have access to any windowless white vans if he visits Earth,” Kat said, shaking her head. Bartholomew was at the limits of her senses as he ran away. Even with her enhanced hearing it was hard to make out the sound of his scales brushing against the tall grass.

 “Is there a reason why Kaleek’s van needs windows?” Dorrik asked. “Perhaps you think that Kaleek needs improved airflow to help dry his fur so it does not end up damp and musty?”

 “That is slander!” Kaleek shouted. “My fur is pristine and smells like ocean brine at dawn. I have it on good authority that my scent is one of the best in my pod.”

 Kat’s mouth quirked upward into a smile.

 “Don’t worry Kaleek,” she assured him. “I’m sure your fur smells wonderful to all the lady desophs. My worry was more that strangers might not be able to see into your van and realize that you don’t really have ice cream or a puppy in there.”

 “I don’t understand why someone would be driving around Earth in a windowless white van with ice cream and a puppy,” Dorrik mused. “Should I be doing that as well? What is the purpose of this van? Is it somehow better than other human methods of conveyance?”

“Please don’t,” Kat replied quickly. “I already have to spend a lot of time explaining your strange behavior to third parties, especially on the Chrome Cowboys forums, that’s the last thing I need. For now at least, maybe we should focus on our trip? We have to be most of the way to Bashmere Pass by now.”

Parchment rustled as Dorrik checked his map. His lips moved silently for a second before he folded it back up.

“If you look to the west, you will see that the ground is sloping upward,” he replied, gesturing with one of his upper hands. “After about twenty minutes of walking, the grass will begin to thin and stop. About ten minutes after that we will find the Bashmere River valley. It isn’t much right now but it will run north toward the pass.”

Kat followed his hand, reaching up to shade her eyes. Sure enough. It was hard to tell at first but there was a slight gradient to the prairie. She shrugged.

 “Well we should get moving then. It’d be really silly of us to hike all this way only to dawdle and not reach a way station with a summoning point before we wake up.”

“I’m going to catch another demisaur when we get there,” Kaleek said defiantly. “If I can’t have Bartholomew, he needs a brother or sister.”

Kat didn’t say anything, but it was impossible to keep a smile from her face. Even Dorrik seemed to be in fairly good cheer as they continued hiking, using his sword to point out the various non-dinosaurs that dotted the landscape. None of the monsters were hungry enough to approach them, and their group didn’t run into any packs of marauding monsters so there was no need to fight.

After about forty minutes they reached the river itself, and at Dorrik’s direction stayed well clear of the water in order to avoid some of the more dangerous aquatic reptiles that began to appear along its bank. From there, it was a matter of hiking for another two or so hours as the prairie gave way to hills and cliffs.

More than anything, it was relaxing. The real world was a constant scramble to try and pin down her enemies while also struggling to balance the resource shortages with production needs. Already her scientists were having to do with less materials in order to keep production at nearly normal levels in an effort to stop GroCorp’s competitors from realizing how much of a vice they had her in.

The dreamscape itself wasn’t much better. Each and every day had been a constant push to make sure that they were clearing enough dungeons. It was getting a bit easier to find iron tier dungeons now that they were on the twelfth floor, but that didn’t mean that all of them were within one day’s walk of their home village. Often, the three of them would need to hike for a day to a waypoint, fighting fake dinosaurs the entire way, only to finish the second leg of their dungeon run the next night.

 The sound of a foot splashing in the river water brought Kat to an immediate halt. She hissed at her partners, pulling the crossbow from her back in one smooth motion.

 Dorrik and Kaleek stopped, shooting her a questioning glance. For a second, Kat cursed the vegetation in the valley. There were plenty of bushes and trees, but she missed the tall grass of the prairie where she could have just dropped to one knee and concealed herself completely.

 Up ahead, six people stood around the corpse of what looked like a giant crocodile. They were talking amongst each other and no one was keeping watch, so they hadn’t spotted Kat’s group yet, and that was probably a good thing.

 Five of them were stallesp, decked out head to toe in various sets of armor, all well-maintained and heavily enchanted. The sixth looked like a huge gorilla with blue fur, a greataxe the size of a person clutched easily in one of its gigantic mitts.

 Dorrik frowned, but Kaleek seemed unconcerned by the larger war party.

 “We can take them,” he whispered, nodding toward the unsuspecting stallesp. “I’m sure we have more dungeons under our belts, and a surprise attack goes a long way. If the two of you can open up with some of your higher tiered area effect abilities, it would kill or tie up the entire group. Then I’d be able to sprint in there and clean house before they got their bearings. I’m sure we could get quite a few marks for their gear. It isn’t as nice as ours, but that’s some quality stuff they have on them.”

 “Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Kat asked. “I’m sure we’re stronger than them, but we’re outnumbered two to one. Plus, this isn’t a bunch of dungeon monsters we’re talking about. Anyone that has survived this long in the tower probably has some sort of skill, gear, or ability that they can rely on. We’re almost sure to run into a surprise or two if we try to jump them.”

 She paused for a second, thinking over whether she should finish her thought. Finally, Kat shrugged and continued. Ideas that were only in her head didn’t do the team any good. It was best to make sure that all of their cards were on the table before they started trouble.”

 “Also, I thought that the Consensus was officially at peace with the stallesp now? Aren’t they set to pay some massive fine as a punishment for acting out? I would think that us ambushing a team of theirs wouldn’t go over well, especially because we can’t exactly silence them by killing them. They’ll just wake up and tell someone what happened.”

 Dorrik was standing stock still, not even trying to crouch or hide like Kat or Kaleek. Now that she looked closely, all four of his hands were balled up into fists, his forearms shaking slightly from the strain.

 After a good second of tense silence, Dorrik sighed.

 “Miss Kat is right,” the lokkel said reluctantly. “A conflict now would break the peace accords. Theoretically we could pass it off as an interpersonal conflict rather than something more wide reaching, but my role in Clan Ahn makes that difficult. Everyone will know that I act as a representative of the Clan. Even if we can manage to avoid official censure, it would free the stallesp up to retaliate. Given how much the three of us have disrupted their plans to date, I suspect that their retaliation would include a combat team that we couldn’t hope to fight, likely someone from above the twenty fourth floor.”

 A chill ran down Kat’s spine. The twenty fourth floor. That meant that their attackers would have a second class evolution and be using silver tier skills. She’d already experienced how much a class evolution expanded her power. Kat couldn’t fathom the abilities or attributes of someone that had reached that stage.

 “Fine,” Kaleek grumbled. “I don’t like it, but I guess we don’t have to attack them. What happens now? Do we try to sneak around them? What if they’re looking to use the same waypoint as us? We could just end up delaying our fight, and there’s no telling whether the terrain and timing would be anywhere near as advantageous as jumping a group of avatars that have exhausted all their resources on taking down an elite monster.”

 “Unfortunately,” Dorrik replied, unsheathing his swords, “I don’t think that sneaking is an option at this point.”

 He was right. One of the stallesp and turned around and was pointing at their trio while shouting something to their companions. Already, the entire group was abandoning their half skinned kill in order to fan out and approach Kat and her friends in a loose semicircle.

 Her eyes flitted over their equipment. Two ax wielders, an archer, two wands, and a mace and shield. A fairly well-balanced party on the surface even if she didn’t know exactly what abilities each of the aliens had.

 Kat’s grip tightened on her crossbow. Kaleek had drawn his sword and planted the tip in the ground, leaning on it like it was a walking stick. On her other side, Dorrik’s swords were in his hands, but both of their points were angled downward as well. Both of their muscles were coiled and tense, ready to spring into action at a moment’s notice even while they feigned disinterest in the approaching stallesp.

 “That’s close enough mole,” Kaleek called out once the aliens were about twenty paces away. “I thought most of your people were busy digging holes to excavate rare minerals so that you could pay off that big fine the Galactic Consensus dropped on you. Strange to see you out here hunting despite all of that.”

 Four of the stallesp stiffened, rage flaring in their beady eyes, but their leader, the alien with the mace and shield, managed to keep his voice relaxed as he replied.

 “I’m sorry desoph, but I didn’t see a sign up saying that these were your hunting grounds? Maybe if your race managed to do anything other than frolic in the ocean and interbreeding with your cousins you would get around to staking a proper claim.”

 That got under Kaleek’s fur. The desoph straightened up, pulling his sword from the dirt and Kat had to take a step toward him, resting a hand on his armored bicep to stop Kaleek from making a hasty decision.

 The ax wielding stallesp leaned close to the leader, whispering urgently.

 “Mayleep, that’s Dorrik Ahn and his pet human. He’s the one that killed Athneth’s raiding party here. It doesn’t look like any of them have backup. If we can manage to kill the human here, it would greatly help operations on Earth. Just say-”

 “No,” the leader hissed back. “The lokkel would report this as interference immediately. I will not be the person reporting back to the burrow council that I was the one that disrupted their plans for Earth. Everything is proceeding as expected right now. Upsetting the status quo is likely grounds for summary execution.”

 Kat shifted slightly. Eavesdropping was a bit rude, but at the same time it was extra strange to tune into a conversation about herself. Especially one where the other parties were discussing her murder.

 “Is there any reason why the six of you have abandoned your carnogator?” Dorrik asked, his voice light despite his absolutely rigid crest. “It seems like you still need to remove its scales and gallbladder. I would hate to think that a scavenger might devour its body, costing you plenty of marks, while the six of you are taunting us like hatchlings whose crests aren’t even dry.”

 One of the stallesp stepped forward, raising her wand threateningly only to earn herself a pointed glare from the leader. She didn’t step back immediately. Only after a second or two of him staring her down did the angry mole relent.

 “You have a point,” the lead stallesp replied. “Unfortunately, I’m unsure I can trust my back around such a treacherous bunch. The mindless violence of the desoph and lokkel races are widely known, but everyone knows that humans barely even count as unthinking barbarians. The fact that you would let such vermin into your midst says a lot about your bankrupt moral character. Please feel free to pass us by. In fact, I insist. If you continue to spend time in this hunting range, I can only conclude that you intend to poach our kills. That would make you a valid target for battle.”

 “And that,” he continued, voice sickly sweet as his mouth slipped into an overly large smile, “would be a shame. It would be terribly unfortunate if we were left no choice but to kill the three of you here and now, far from any assistance or allies.”

 Kat cocked her head to the side, a bemused expression on her face. It seemed like the aliens were trying to taunt her into action, but their attempts were more silly than anything. Why was she supposed to care about something that looked like a b-movie monster calling her a vermin?

 She hated the stallesp. They hated her. It was hard to take anything they said seriously because of course they would talk crap about her.

 Kaleek elbowed her in the side. “Come on Kat,” he whispered, “are you just going to take that? We can wipe the floor with these losers, trust me.”

 “They’re just trying to get you to attack first,” she replied, projecting her voice loudly enough so that the stallesp could hear as well. “Honestly, I don’t know why they’re bothering. All of this posturing is juvenile. It’s like the stallesp think that we’re children to be swayed by schoolyard insults into making a mistake of massive xenopolitical importance. Honestly, neither side is going to throw the first punch and we all know it. As best I can tell, there’s nothing to be gained but petty satisfaction from tossing jibes back and first.”

 “Now come on,” Kat continued with a massive smile. “Let’s go find the spot where you drowned all of their friends. It’s a bit hot out and I could go for a nice relaxing swim.”

 Two of the stallesp surged toward them only for the leader to glow red, stomping his foot into the ground and triggering a short ranged earthquake that sent both of them tumbling to the ground.

 “Not. One. Step. Further,” he ground out, eyes flashing as he stared his companions down. “Let the human have her fun. She’ll get hers once Operation Silver is complete. Until then, we just need to wait.”

 The stallesp stepped back, making way for their group. All five of them and their gorilla companion stared daggers at their group as Kat and her friends walked past.

 As much as she hated to admit it, the childish and petty satisfaction felt good.

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